846 THE OCEAN. 
above descend below the common level, joining the 
pillar in the form of a funnel, but sometimes the 
summit is invisible, from its becoming gradually 
more rare. Much more constant is the presence of 
a visible foot; the sea being raised in a great heap, 
with a whirling and bubbling motion, the upper 
part of which is lost in the mass of spray and foam 
which is driven rapidly round. The column, or 
columns, for there are frequently more than one, 
move slowly forward with a stately and majestic 
step, sometimes inclining from the perpendicular, 
now becoming curved, and now taking a twisted 
form. Sometimes the mass becomes more and more 
transparent, and gradually vanishes; at others, it 
separates, the base subsiding, and the upper por- 
tion shortening with a whirling motion, till lost in 
the clouds. The pillar is not always cylindrical: a 
very frequent form is that of aslender funnel de- 
pending from the sky, which sometimes retains that 
appearance without alteration, or, at others, lengthens 
its tube towards the sea, which at the same time 
begins to boil and «ise in a hill to meet it, and soon 
the two unite and form a slender column, as first 
described. 
When these sublime appearances are viewed from 
a short distance, they are attended with a rushing 
noise, somewhat like the roar of a cataract. The 
phenomenon is doubtless the effect of a whirlwind, 
or current of air revolving with great rapidity and 
violence; and the lines which are seen, are probably 
drops of water ascending in the cloudy column. 
They are esteemed highly dangerous: instances have 
